ARCADIA, USA // Marla Provencio was named Chief Creative Strategist at Lussier TV in 2017 after spending 35 years at the Walt Disney Company. Her previous title at the Disney company was executive vice president, Marketing, and chief marketing officer, ABC Entertainment. In this position she oversaw all marketing activities for ABC’s primetime, daytime and late-night lineups, while establishing the tone and brand for the network. Her duties included oversight and strategic planning, creative development and implementation of all on-air and off-air marketing, advertising and promotional campaigns for all ABC Entertainment programming, including scripted and reality series, alternative, movies and specials. She was previously executive vice president, Marketing, ABC Entertainment Group, since June 2009. Prior to her Group title, Provencio had been executive vice president, Marketing, ABC Entertainment, since February 2007.
Provencio spearheaded the successful launches of the hit series “Modern Family,” “Once Upon a Time,” “How To Get Away With Murder,” “Resurrection,” “The Middle,” “black-ish,” “Revenge,” “Castle” and “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” as well as the critically acclaimed “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Scandal,” “Dancing with the Stars” and “Shark Tank,” among other ABC primetime and late-night programming. She created a variety of award-winning and innovative marketing campaigns and launched the television industry’s first multi-platform, brand identity and viewer-navigation system through the “ABC Start Here” initiative. Along with other programming, she developed multi-platform digital and social strategies for shows such as “Scandal,” as well as alternative reality games and multi-level engagement activities for the hit series “Lost.” She also was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences 2008-2009 Emmy Awards for contribution to the Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media (fiction) for The Dharma Initiative (“Lost”). Provencio created Hispanic-targeted campaigns for “Desperate Housewives” and “Ugly Betty.” Both series’ premieres ranked as the No. 1 show of the evening and time period among all Hispanic viewers watching English language television. Provencio was also named one of the top Hispanic marketers of the year by AdWeek’s Marketing y Medios Magazine.
For her creative endeavors on behalf of ABC, Provencio was named “Entertainment Marketer of the Year” in 2005 and 2007 by Ad Age. She has also been nominated for numerous Promax/BDA Awards, winning several for on-air promotion campaigns that she developed. These include the “ABC House” branding campaign, as well as campaigns for such series as “Revenge,” “Modern Family,” “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “NYPD Blue” and “Alias,” and the movie and miniseries “Oprah Winfrey Presents: Tuesday’s with Morrie” and “Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.”
Provencio started her career in on-air promotion at ABC in 1979 as production coordinator. Over the years she has held various positions, including producer, senior producer and executive director of Daytime and Children’s promotion; vice president, overseeing all on-air creative for Drama and Long-form Programming; and vice president, Marketing, ABC Entertainment.
In addition, Provencio was selected by a panel of executives to participate in ABC’s mentoring program. She was chosen as one of People en Español’s Most Powerful Women for 2013 and was named one of 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014’s Most Powerful & Influential Latinos in Entertainment by the Imagen Foundation. She was also voted one of the 50 Elite Hispanic Women two years in a row by Hispanic Business Magazine, and was named one of The Hollywood Reporter’s Power 100 Women in Entertainment as well as THR’s Top 25 Latinos in Entertainment in 2014. She currently serves on the Promax/BDA Board of Directors.
Born and raised in North East Los Angeles, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of California, Los Angeles. Provencio resides in Arcadia, California with her husband and also has a son who is in the entertainment industry (currently serving as Executive Director of Ghetto Film School, LA).